{"id":3953,"date":"2022-02-20T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-20T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itslitteaching.com\/?p=3953"},"modified":"2025-08-29T10:50:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T14:50:58","slug":"social-justice-unit-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itslitteaching.com\/social-justice-unit-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Your High School Unit Needs These Social Justice Activities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thinking about teaching a social justice unit in your class? These three social justice activities for high school students will engage your students with the material<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether you’re teaching a social justice novel, hoping for students to research an issue of their choice, or just offering enrichment, social justice units can be a great way to boost student engagement while challenging them to up their ELA skills.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Pinterest pin that reads, \"Your High School Unit Needs These Social Justice Activities\" overlaid on the image of unbalanced scales on a blue background<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

How I Became Interested In Social Justice Literature Units<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In my first few years of teaching, I struggled to engage my students. The curriculum I was given just wasn’t pulling them in. The material didn’t feel relevant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I did see that my students had a strong sense of justice. They cared deeply about what was fair and what wasn’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, I tried something new. I brought in a brand-new (at the time) novel that dealt with a problem that felt real and immediate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can read more about my experience teaching The Hate U Give<\/em> right here<\/a>, but I’ll skip to the ending: everything changed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My students were immediately engaged. And for the first time ever, they had a lot to say. Discussions were no longer pulling teeth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were learning. And I was looking forward to teaching every day.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Pinterest pin that reads, \"Your High School Unit Needs These Social Justice Activities\" around a close-up of a lady justice statue<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

About These Social Justice Activities For High School Students<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While the social justice activities included in this blog post are designed with high school students in mind, most, if not all, can be adapted for middle school students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re adapting for younger students and worried about what their parents may think of your unit, consider limiting students to studying a social issue from the past. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Civil Rights Movement is a relatively “safe topic” to study while introducing young students to complex topics like human rights, civic participation, and other social justice concepts. They can study the social justice actions of figures like Martin Luther King, Jr. or the Freedom Riders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For older students, you can introduce more divisive topics like mass incarceration and police brutality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social change is a topic that all young people should study!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also created these social justice activities with the ELA teacher in mind, but social studies teachers are more than welcome to use them, too! (Anyone else feel like there is a ton of overlap in our content areas?!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of your content area, these activities provide an opportunity to apply those English language arts skills.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Pinterest pin that reads, \"Your High School Unit Needs These Social Justice Activities\" over the image of several sets of hands clasping one another in the air<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Social Justice Activities for High School Students #1: Analyze a Social Injustice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Whether you’re studying one injustice as a whole class or students are focusing on injustices of their choosing, step one will always be to analyze it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easier said than done, though, right? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every social justice issue is complex and layered. How do you get students to start thinking about them critically?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way is to have students identify the key players in the social justice issue.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every injustice has victims. But don’t overlook the importance of identifying who in society benefits<\/em> from the injustice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Identifying who wins if an injustice continues is often enlightening for students (and adults!). <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a number of different ways to do this. If you’re teaching about a specific issue as part of a social justice unit, you could always present this information to your students.<\/strong> Even a slideshow can get students feeling passionate if you’re studying the right injustice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternatively, students can do their own research individually or with a small group.<\/strong> This works well if you’re teaching a broad social justice unit or want students to choose their own topic to dive into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use A Graphic Organizer To Help Students Break Down Issues<\/h3>\n\n\n
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\"Cover<\/a>
This PRINTABLE AND DIGITAL graphic organizer<\/a> can be used to help students break down the complexities of any social injustice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I like to use this graphic organizer<\/a> to help students really break down a social justice issue.<\/strong> This graphic organizer consists of four boxes labeled “Target,” “Perpetrator,” “Bystander,” and “Ally.” Students must identify each type of person for a social injustice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The beauty of this worksheet is its flexibility.<\/strong> You can use it to talk to students about a single, fictional issue in a book you’ve read. Or, students can fill it out based on a real-world social problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it helps students to understand the complexity of an issue to get this all on paper before diving deeper. Plus, filling out the graphic organizer as a class allows for discussions to begin and questions to surface. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can grab this graphic organizer for free<\/em> by signing up for my email list below!<\/p>\n\n\n\n